Hydroglyder

ABSTRACT

A rough-water craft having a cabin and a long rigid tail is disclosed. Aerodynamic wings attached to the cabin lift the cabin out of contact with the water&#39;&#39;s surface but the rear tip of the tail maintains contact with the water&#39;&#39;s surface and skims therealong. The tailboom is streamlined. Flaps maintain the craft at a 12* attitude when it is in operation. Selectively adjustable cargo carriers hold the cargo level when the craft&#39;&#39;s attitude is not level.

Elited States atent Wray [451 Jan. 25, 1972 54] HYDROGLYDER 1,928,552 9/1933 Band ..244/106 x 2,354,453 7/1944 Gazda ..l14/66.5 [72] Inventor: Carl Frank Wray, 10033 Hull St. Road,

Richmond, 23235 Primary ExaminerAndrew H. Farrell [22] Filed: May 11 1970 Attorney-Griffin, Branigan & Kindness Appl. No.: 36,023

[52] US. Cl. ..ll4/66.5 R

[51] Int. Cl 1 i ..B63b 1/18 [58] Field ofSearch ...l14/66.5; 115/70 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,522,785 8/1970 Thompson ..1 14/6615 1,010,053 11/1911 l -lunter 14/665 A rough-water craft having a cabin and a long rigid tail is disclosed. Aerodynamic wings attached to the cabin lift the cabin out of contact with the waters surface but the rear tip of the tail maintains contact with the waters surface and skims therealong. The tailboom is streamlined. Flaps maintain the craft at a 12 attitude when it is in operation. Selectively adjustable cargo carriers hold the cargo level when the crafts attitude is not level.

ABSTRACT 22 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENIED M25672 3.636.906

INVENTOR CARL F. WRAY BY y k-0;, ram'gan i M 3011 ATTORNEYS HYDROGLYDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to the art of boats. More particularly, it relates to a type of boat which rises partially away from the waters surface to reduce water drag.

Experts have long recognized that under normal conditions a boats velocity can be increased by decreasing water drag. Accordingly, some boats are designed to rise up in the water in order to reduce water contact and thereby reduce water drag. In this regard, some boats actually rise partially away from the water's surface in order to reduce contact with the water. Such boats usually have the advantage of being fast. Notwithstanding their speed, boats which rise partially from the water's surface are seldom used for recreational and commercial travel. One reason for this is that such boats usually lack sufficient stability to travel over rough water. Another reason is that boats which ride close to the waters surface are sometimes battered up and down by waves, hence, riding in such boats is uncomfortable for passengers.

A hydroplane is a good example of a prior art boat which rises partially above the waters surface. A hydroplane's body is shaped so as to provide an aerodynamic lift such that, when in motion, it rises up and skims along the waters surface with its flat bottom touching the waters surface at alternating points. A propeller usually provides push at a rearward point which tends to swing the boat to one side unless there is a stabilizing means. In this regard, a boat is normally stabilized by 'its keel, but the effectiveness of a hydroplanes keel is normally reduced because it has little contact with the water. Consequently, a propeller driven hydroplanes front tends to turn to one side. In the same manner, the forward portion of a hydroplane tends to catch air under it and swing up and over the back. In addition a hydroplane traveling through choppy or rough water is often subjected to sudden impulses of water drag in front of its propeller. Such impulses help to upset a hydroplanes stability and cause uncomfortable vibrations for the hydroplanes passengers. For all of these reasons, hydroplanes usually cannot tolerate even mildly choppy water and are mainly used in smooth water.

There are a number of patents disclosing winged boats which skim across a waters surface. For example, US. Pats. No 1,928,552 to Band and No. 1,597,209 to Schultz disclose such devices. However, most such winged boats have some disadvantages which prevent them from being used for commercial and recreational travel. For example, some of these craft do not rise far enough out of the water to reduce water drag to a minimum. Some of them are unstable because there is water drag in front of a propeller, as in the hydroplane. Also, they do not avoid the uncomfortable effects of turbulent water on the crafts occupants.

Another type of prior art boat which rises partially from the waters surface is a hydrofoil. A hydrofoil normally obtains lifting force from water pressure created below the waters surface. A hydrofoils hull is raised from the water on stilts which extend down through the waters surface to planes. The planes utilize water pressure to provide lift. Although a hydrofoil is usually faster than a normal boat, it usually does not have the speed capability of a hydroplane because it normally has more water drag than a hydroplane and sometimes has difficulty in rough water because large waves may batter the boats hull causing vibrations. Also, long stilts may create a built-in instability.

A seaplane is still another prior art water vehicle which is related to this invention. A seaplane has aerodynamic wings, an aerodynamic tail, and floating pontoons. A seaplane floats on its pontoons when it is stationary but normally rises completely from the water's surface when it travels from one position to another position. A seaplane has two major disadvantages; 1 it cannot land on unduly rough water; and, (2) it nonnally requires a licensed pilot to navigate it.

An object of this invention is to provide a boat which rises partially away from the waters surface, has essentially the speed capability of a hydroplane, is inherently stable, provides a relatively smooth ride for occupants, and is capable of rough water travel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the principles of this invention, propulsion means are located toward the front of a water craft while a long tail of the craft contacts the surface of the water at the rear. The front of the craft is lifted from the surface of the water by aerodynamic wings. A cargo carrying cabin is located at the front of the craft. Water drag acting far behind the propulsion means gives inherent stability to the craft. The effect of turbulent water on the crafts passengers is eliminated by lifting the crafts cabin above the waves crests. Although the tail moves up and down with the surface of the water, it is long enough to prevent excessive oscillations in the cabin. Passenger seats are provided for holding passengers level even though the cabin is tilted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which reference characters refer to the same parts through out the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention in a clear manner.

FIG. 1 is a partially cut away side view of a water craft embodying the principles of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the water craft shown in FIG. 1; and, FIG. 3 is a frontal end view of the water craft shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a tailboom for a modified embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2; a water craft, designated generally by numeral 11, is divided into a cabin portion 12 and a streamlined, rigid tailboom 14. It is significant that the tailboom 14 is fixedly attached to the cabin portion 12 and extends out behind the cabin portion 12. Located in the cabin portion 12 is a cockpit l6 and windows 18. Windows 18 are for the use of passengers and crew. Wings 20 are attached to cabin portion 12 at a forward point. Jet engines 22 propel the water craft 11. A general line of demarcation between cabin portion 12 and tailboom 14 is designated by a dashed line 24. In the cutaway portion of FIG. 1 is shown seats 26 for passengers use. The angle of seats 26 with respect to water craft 11 is adjustable so that they may be selectively placed in an attitude shown by dotted lines and designated by numeral 28. Flaps 30 shown in FIG. 2 enable a pilot to regulate the amount of lift provided by wings 20. Marine propeller 32 extends from the bottom of water craft 1 1.

In operation, the water craft 11 is inherently stable and can normally tolerate rough water. When water craft I1 is at a dock, it is floating in water and its bottom 34 is settled down through water surface 36. Once the craft has taken on its cargo, it is untied from the dock and moves toward open sea. The marine motor 32 propels the water craft 11 when it is moving slowly and its bottom 34 remains settled through the water surface 36. Once in open sea, the jet engines 22 are activated to propel the craft 11 at faster speeds. As the craft 11 accelerates, the wings 20 provide aerodynamic lift which raises the bottom 34 up out of the water surface 36. However, the wings 20 are located such that the tailboom 14 does not come out of contact with the water surface but rather remains in contact with the water and is forced up to the water surface 36 and skims therealong. Flaps 30 are regulated so as to bring .craft 11 to approximately a 12 angle with the water surface 36, as shown in FIG. I.

it can be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the craft 11 can achieve relatively fast speeds because it has relatively little water drag. Also, the water drag created at the tip 38 cooperates with jet engines 22 to provide an inherent stability to the craft, that is a force pulling a drag normally has an inherent stability whereas a force pushing a drag usually has an inherent instability.

Cargo carriages, shown as seats in FIG. 1, are adjustable so that they can be selectively adjusted between positions 26 and 28. When craft 11 is floating on water surface 36, the seats are in positions 28. When craft 1 1 is being propelled by jet engines 22 at the 12 attitude, the seats are in positions 26. in this manner, passengers are always sitting at a comfortable attitude. in one embodiment, seats 26 are adjusted by passengers, and in another embodiment, they are adjusted automatically with each oscillation of the craft.

My device is particularly applicable for rough water travel. Although the water surface 36 provides a great deal of support for craft 11, relatively little turbulence of water surface 36 is transmitted to the cargo in cabin portion 12. Tailboom 14 is designed sufficiently long so that when the craft is at a 12 angle, waves strike the tailboom but do not contact the underside of cabin portion 12. Thus, cabin portion 12 is not moved up and down by waves but rather is rotated lightly forward and backward. For example, one water craft utilizing the principles of my invention is designed for use in water having 6 feet waves, which is a relatively common condition. In order to prevent contact between the cabin portion 12 and the crests of 6 feet waves, tailboom 14 is approximately 28 feet long. This is determined as follows: L=6lsin l2=28; where L is the length of tailboom 14. When this 28-foot tailboom 14 has its tip 38 in a wave trough, the crests of 6-foot waves do not strike the underside of cabin 12. They only strike the underside of tailboom 14.

Referring to FIG. 1, rough water 40 is shown in dotted lines. Rough water 40 has waves having troughs 42 and crests 44. Another tailboom 14a is shown in dotted lines riding on crest 44a. In actual practice, however, the tailboom 14a does not ride up on the tip of a crest 44a as shown in FIG. 1 but rather cuts through the crest. In this regard, the tailboom 14a is shown on the upper tip of wave crest 44a for illustrative purposes only. After passing crest 44a, the tailboom does not settle all the way into a trough 42 but rather strikes wave 44b and rides on it before it can settle all the way down. Hence, although the tailboom 14a moves up and down as it passes over waves, this up and down motion is not to the full heights of waves. In addition, this up and down motion is damped out even further by the fact that the tailboom 14 slices through the crests 44 as mentioned above. Thus, passengers in cabin portion 12 are not significantly bothered by the effects of turbulent water. There is even less effect on passengers if the tailboom is longer. ln this regard, I have found it desirable to make cabin portion 12 and tailboom 14 approximately the same length. The tailboom should preferably be streamlined along its entire length so that minimum water drag is created when it contacts wave crests.

In a modified embodiment (shown in a cross-sectional view in FIG. 4) the tailboom 14 has an upwardly concaved underside 46 extending along the tailboom 14 instead of the outwardly protruding underside illustrated in the remaining figures. A purpose of this concaved underside 46 is to trap air during operation of the craft and thereby help to raise the tailboom's tip 38 to the waters surface 36. The tailbooms concaved underside 46 holds the tailboom tip 38 on the waters surface in the same manner as a concaved underside of a hydroplane holds a hydroplane on a water's surface. At times during operation, only underside tips 48 actually contact a water's surface.

It can be appreciated by those skilled in the art, that the watercraft that l have disclosed is an inherently stable skimming boat for use in rough water. While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, propeller engines can be used instead of jet engines 22. Also, hydrofoil stilts can be employed at a rearward point along the tailboom 14. Further, there are many possible body shapes that can be employed for the craft.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A water craft of the type which skims across the waters surface comprising:

cabin means for containing a cargo;

rigid tailboom means fixedly attached to said cabin means and having a tip area located substantially aft of said cabin means;

propelling means mounted on said craft at a point substantially forward of said tip area;

wing means attached to said cabin means for providing aerodynamic lift of sufficient force to raise and maintain all of said craft out of said water except said tip, area, said tip area sliding along the surface of said water.

2. A water craft as in claim 1 wherein said tailboom means is at least as long as said cabin means.

3. A water craft as in claim 2 wherein said tailboom means is approximately as long as said cabin means.

4. A water craft as in claim 3 wherein said tailboom means is streamlined along its entire length.

5. A water craft as in claim 4 wherein said tailboom has an upwardly concaved underside.

6. A water craft as in claim 4 and further comprising means for maintaining said water craft at approximately a 12 pitch.

7. A water craft as in claim 6 and further comprising adjustable cargo carriage means for maintaining cargo level with changes in the crafts pitch.

8. A water craft as in claim 1 wherein said tailboom means is streamlined along its entire length.

9. A water craft as in claim 8 wherein said tailboom has an upwardly concaved underside.

10. A water craft as in claim 8 and further comprising means for maintaining said water craft at approximately a 12 pitch.

11. A water craft as in claim 10 and further comprising an adjustable cargo carriage means for maintaining cargo level with changes in the crafts pitch.

12. A water craft as in claim 1 and further comprising means for maintaining said water craft at approximately a 12 altitude.

13. A water craft as in claim 12 and further comprising adjustable cargo carriage means for maintaining cargo level with changes in the crafts pitch.

14. A water craft as in claim 13 wherein said tailboom means is at least 28 feet long.

15. A water craft as in claim 1 and further comprising adjustable cargo carriage means for maintaining cargo level with changes in the crafts pitch.

16. A water craft as in claim 15 wherein said tailboom means is approximately as long as said cabin means.

17. A water craft as in claim 16 wherein said tailboom means is streamlined along its entire length.

18. A method of transporting a water craft across a waters surface, said water craft being of the type having a cabin with a fixedly attached rigid tailboom extending rearwardly to a tip area, comprising the steps of:

applying a propelling force to said craft at a point substantially forward of said tip area for propelling said craft forward;

applying sufficient aerodynamic lifting force to said cabin to raise and maintain said cabin out of contact with said water but not sufficient to raise said tip area of said tailboom out of contact with said water.

19. A method of transporting a water craft across a Waters surface, said water craft being of the type having a cabin with a fixedly attached aft extending rigid tailboom, comprising the steps of:

applying a propelling force to said craft for propelling said craft forward;

applying sufficient aerodynamic lifting force to said cabin to raise and maintain said cabin out of contact with said water but not sufficient to raise a tip of said tailboom out 5 of contact with said water 20. A method as in claim 19 wherein saidlifting force is of the proper magnitude to maintain said craft at approximately 

1. A water craft of the type which skims across the water''s surface comprising: cabin means for containing a cargo; rigid tailboom means fixedly attached to said cabin means and having a tip area located substantially aft of said cabin means; propelling means mounted on said craft at a point substantially forward of said tip area; wing means attached to said cabin means for providing aerodynamic lift of sufficient force to raise and maintain all of said craft out of said water except said tip, area, said tip area sliding along the surface of said water.
 2. A water craft as in claim 1 wherein said tailboom means is at least as long as said cabin means.
 3. A water craft as in claim 2 wherein said tailboom means is approximately as long as said cabin means.
 4. A water craft as in claim 3 wherein said tailboom means is streamlined along its entire length.
 5. A water craft as in claim 4 wherein said tailboom has an upwardly concaved underside.
 6. A water craft as in claim 4 and further comprising means for maintaining said water craft at approximately a 12* pitch.
 7. A water craft as in claim 6 and further comprising adjustable cargo carriage means for maintaining cargo level with changes in the craft''s pitch.
 8. A water craft as in claim 1 wherein said tailboom means is streamlined along its entire length.
 9. A water craft as in claim 8 wherein said tailboom has an upwardly concaved underside.
 10. A water craft as in claim 8 and further comprising means for maintaining said water craft at approximately a 12* pitch.
 11. A water craft as in claim 10 and further comprising an adjustable cargo carriage means for maintaining cargo level with changes in the craft''s pitch.
 12. A water craft as in claim 1 and further comprising means for maintaining said water craft at approximately a 12* altitude.
 13. A water craft as in claim 12 and further comprising adjustable cargo Carriage means for maintaining cargo level with changes in the craft''s pitch.
 14. A water craft as in claim 13 wherein said tailboom means is at least 28 feet long.
 15. A water craft as in claim 1 and further comprising adjustable cargo carriage means for maintaining cargo level with changes in the craft''s pitch.
 16. A water craft as in claim 15 wherein said tailboom means is approximately as long as said cabin means.
 17. A water craft as in claim 16 wherein said tailboom means is streamlined along its entire length.
 18. A method of transporting a water craft across a water''s surface, said water craft being of the type having a cabin with a fixedly attached rigid tailboom extending rearwardly to a tip area, comprising the steps of: applying a propelling force to said craft at a point substantially forward of said tip area for propelling said craft forward; applying sufficient aerodynamic lifting force to said cabin to raise and maintain said cabin out of contact with said water but not sufficient to raise said tip area of said tailboom out of contact with said water.
 19. A method of transporting a water craft across a water''s surface, said water craft being of the type having a cabin with a fixedly attached aft extending rigid tailboom, comprising the steps of: applying a propelling force to said craft for propelling said craft forward; applying sufficient aerodynamic lifting force to said cabin to raise and maintain said cabin out of contact with said water but not sufficient to raise a tip of said tailboom out of contact with said water.
 20. A method as in claim 19 wherein said lifting force is of the proper magnitude to maintain said craft at approximately a 12* pitch.
 21. A method as in claim 19 wherein said propelling force is applied to said craft at a forward point on said cabin.
 22. A method as in claim 21 wherein said lifting force is of the proper magnitude to maintain said craft at approximately a 12* pitch. 